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Smartphones have improved a lot over the years, but they basically still last a day or so on a charge. That means most of us spend the entire night charging our batteries while we sleep. Is this good for the battery?
Contrary to what you might imagine, battery technology has actually improved a lot. The problem is that phones can do more now, which means they need more power. The end result is a bigger, better battery that still needs to be recharged every day.
related: 8 Tips to Save Battery Life on iPhone
Information change
Complicating this situation is the fact that there is a lot of conflicting information out there. Maybe you’ve heard that charging your phone overnight is bad. Maybe you’ve heard it’s perfectly fine.
Part of this confusion is due to advances in battery technology. What was once true is no longer true. It’s a natural part of learning more about how things work. So what’s the deal now? Let’s dive into the water.
How charging works
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The moral of the story is similar to other themes surrounding how to use gadgets “right”. For the most part, the device is designed to handle whatever you worry about. For example, you don’t have to close apps on Android, it’s designed to handle multitasking for you.
Smartphones are designed with appropriate safeguards to keep the battery and other components safe. One thing that can cause damage to a phone is overheating, which is where many of the concerns about charging at night come into play.
Most phones charge quickly the first time you plug them in or place them on a wireless charger. So if you just desperately need some extra juice, you won’t have to wait long. However, after a while, charging slows down and stops completely when it reaches 100%.
Of course, since it stops charging at 100%, the battery will slowly discharge. Once it drops to 99% again, it consumes a very small amount of power to get back to 100%. The cycle repeats until you power it off. The phone is never overcharged, but it charges almost all the time.
related: Stop closing apps on your Android phone
Advanced Protection
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You may have heard that it is best to keep the battery between 20-80%. Apple and some Android manufacturers have introduced extra features to keep your phone as close to that range as possible.
Starting with iOS 13 in 2019, iPhones have an “Optimized Battery Charging” feature. When enabled, the phone will stay around 80% for most of the night. The algorithm learns when you usually wake up and charge your device before that. You still start the day at 100%, but you don’t cycle between 100% and 99% all night.
Some Android devices have essentially the same functionality. OnePlus calls it “optimized charging”; Google Pixel phones have “adaptive charging.” Samsung Galaxy devices go a step further, allowing you to always limit your battery to 85%.
If you’re charging your phone overnight, it’s a good idea to enable these features (if you have them). It makes charging overnight a little less of a problem.
related: How to Enable or Disable Optimized Battery Charging on iPhone
How do we define “bad”?
With these protections in place, it will be very difficult for you to cause any undue damage to your phone’s battery. However, batteries degrade over time and there is nothing anyone can do about it. It’s just a matter of how much you help the process.
The charge cycle affects the life of the battery. The more charge cycles it goes through, the more the battery will degrade. That’s why it’s best to keep your phone between 20-80% as much as possible.
related: How to Check Your iPhone’s Battery Health
This is where overnight charging can speed up the battery degradation process. Cycling between 99-100% for hours is a bit like turning the lights on and off. It doesn’t make the bulb explode into flames, but it’s not particularly good for bulbs either.
That’s the question we have to ask while charging the battery overnight. What exactly constitutes a “bad” battery? Will your phone overheat and catch fire? No, as long as you use the right equipment, there are safeguards in place to prevent this from happening. Will it drain battery life? Yes, but you probably won’t notice.
related: How to Check Battery Health on Android
Charge overnight without damage
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There are a few things you can do to charge your phone overnight and mitigate some of the shortcomings. First, make sure the device has room to breathe. Overheating is a big problem, so give it room and don’t cover it with anything.
Another big thing you can do is choose the right charging device. It is important to use the charger that came with the device and one designed specifically for it. Beyond that, you might consider avoiding “fast charging” at bedtime. Slow to 100% means less time is spent in the 99-100% loop.
Beyond that, you have to accept that the battery won’t last forever. Using your phone can reduce battery performance. There is no way around this. There are a few tricks you can use to slow this degradation, but most of us don’t have any other convenient time to charge our devices. Charging all of our devices overnight is a part of life these days.